“My patience is running thin”: Nothing CEO explains why he’s fed up with obsession over mobile processors

Carl Pei says Nothing focuses on building balanced phones and doesn’t want to "spike" one particular feature, like the processor.

“What's up with the smartphone industry? Why are people so hung up on the processor?,” These are a couple of questions that Nothing CEO Carl Pei posed during a recent podcast video on the Nothing channel whilst discussing the upcoming Nothing Phone 3.

Nothing’s CEO, Carl Pei, has revealed the price and key features of its upcoming device Phone (3), set for release in 2025. (Android)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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For those uninitiated, this topic was discussed because the company announced that the Nothing Phone 3 is going to feature the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, and not the Snapdragon 8 Elite , which is the current flagship. This prompted many people to voice their opinions on social media, as Nothing is marketing the Phone 3 as its first flagship-grade smartphone but chose not to include a flagship chipset.

Carl Pei’s Car Engine Analogy

In the podcast, Pei compared the processor of a smartphone to the engine of a car. He stated that when people look at new cars, they consider the overall vehicle. They might look at the zero to one hundred acceleration time, but he has not often seen people questioning why a particular engine was or was not used.

Pei explained that, just like in a car, the engine is an important component, but what also matters is how the rest of the car is built, the aerodynamics of the design, and how well the engine integrates with other parts.

He then mentioned that some companies manufacture smartphones with very good chips but fail to optimise the software, resulting in lagging or overheating. Pei concluded by saying, "My patience is running pretty thin on this topic."

Nothing Doesn’t Offer A ‘Spiked’ Experience: Pei

Pei also mentioned how some companies work on the strategy that involves “spiking the experience.” This could include spiking on the camera or making the processor the standout feature.

“We're going to use these products for hours, every single day. So, for us, it's about creating this holistic experience that shouldn't have any immediate downsides, and everything should be pretty good. So that's kind of how we approached it.”

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